Series details: CRDA/51

The English House Condition Survey (EHCS) is a series of surveys undertaken on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and its predecessors. The English House Condition Surveys provide the Department with a major source of information to assist in the development and monitoring of policies directed towards the repair and improvement of housing stock, and improvement of energy efficiency.

This survey used to be on a quinquennial basis and has been carried out once every five years since 1967. From 2002 however, the survey will run continuously.

The EHCS provides the only available national picture of the condition of housing stock and how it changes over time.

Topics covered by the EHCS include:

• household characteristics
• description of the stock
• changes in stock condition - fitness, repair, modernisation, energy efficiency
• income and expenditure on rents and mortgages
• repairs and improvements by owners, tenants, landlords
• expenditure on repairs and improvements by owners, tenants, landlords
• householders' attitudes to repairs and improvements
• health and disability
• landlord responsiveness to repairs
• use of renovation grants
• local environmental quality
• affordable heating
• home safety
• property values

The 1991 survey design, organisation and data analysis were the responsibility of the Department of the Environment, but other agencies and organisations were involved in the survey.

The 1996 survey was the responsibility of the Research Analysis and Evaluation Division of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. An external contractor, Market and Opinion Research International (MORI), was used to manage all stages of the fieldwork, validate the data collected and assemble the data onto an SPSS database.

See the sub-series catalogues for further detail on responsibility for the 1991 and 1996 surveys.

For further information on the DoE and DETR, see the Administrative Histories for Environment Departments and for Transport Departments.

The English House Condition Survey database is built up from a core sample of dwellings, collected by four separate but related surveys which together make up the EHCS:

1. The Physical Survey. A survey of dwellings to provide a description of the stock, its present condition and its energy characteristics
2. The Interview Survey. Interviews with households to determine their characteristics, (including detailed financial circumstances), and attitudes to repairs; to identify the nature and cost of improvement and repair work they have undertaken or intend to undertake, and to establish the effectiveness of heating arrangements in the home. The Fuel Survey (usually conducted alongside the Interview survey, or directed at a sub-sample of it) collected data on electricity and gas consumption for these households to measure energy efficiency of the housing stock and the potential for energy savings.
3. The Postal Survey. A postal survey of local authorities and housing associations, to identify the action they have taken, or intend to take, on their own stock and, for local authorities, action on private sector dwellings.
4. The Valuation Survey. A survey of vacant possession market values which can be linked to information on dwelling type, condition and location; may used with household income data to compare value, particularly equity, with household circumstances.

NDAD holds datasets for the 1991 and 1996 surveys (see Links to subseries catalogues). The five 1991 datasets broadly correspond to the surveys described above; the seven 1996 datasets include the survey datasets, and two additional datasets used for analysis and system management.

Users should be aware there is much cross-correlation of data tables between the datasets. This reflects the fact that, in their original use by the Department, data from the four component EHCS surveys was held together on a cross referenced SPSS database, which allowed sophisticated data modelling to take place. Further detail on this cross-correlation is available in the dataset catalogues, and the individual table scope notes.

The English House Condition Survey was a quinquennial survey up until 2001. From 2002, the survey will run continuously. It is anticipated that further accruals to this series will be transferred to NDAD as they become available. The eighth survey (presumably conducted in 2001) will form the third sub-series in this NDAD series.

The English House Condition Survey datasets and their related documentation are public records under the Public Records Acts, 1958 and 1967. The National Archives has assigned the dataset the series reference AT 76.

The English House Condition Survey datasets and their related documentation are open, with the exception of certain fields which contain geographic code information and remain closed for 30 years. The datasets and documentation are available on demand to users of NDAD, and do not require to be booked in advance.

The English House Condition Survey datasets are subject to Crown Copyright. Copies may be made for private study and research purposes only.

The English House Condition Survey is not subject to registration under the Data Protection Acts.

The language of the materials is English.

Documents relating to the English House Condition Survey dataset have been transferred to NDAD. See the Dataset Documentation Catalogue, reference CRDA/51/DD, for further details.

Datasets for the 1986 English House Condition Survey have been deposited at the UK Data Archive, study numbers SN 3209 (Interview and Market Value Surveys), and SN 2995 (Physical Survey).

The Department of the Environment, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have all produced reports on the English House Condition Surveys. See the Dataset Documentation Catalogue, reference CRDA/51/DD, for further details.

The English House Condition Survey datasets for 1991 and 1996 were processed using a Wintel PC system.

The English House Condition Survey datasets for 1991 and 1996 were operated on a Windows-based operating system (version of Windows not known).

The English House Condition Survey datasets for 1991 and 1996 were edited and processed using SPSS software.

Not known.

The English House Condition Survey is a complex data-gathering exercise which encompasses a number of distinct sub-surveys. The components of the 1991 and 1996 surveys are broadly similar and the arrangement of the datasets in NDAD reflects this structure. Each year of the survey (1991 and 1996) has been treated as a subseries, with the subseries component of the references based on the year.

The data for the surveys was originally transferred from the department in a directory tree structure. Within each subseries, the datasets correspond to the tree structure, reflecting the major survey components.

The following five datasets were received for the 1991 survey:

The following seven datasets were received for the 1996 survey:

Users should be aware there is much cross-relation of data tables between the datasets, reflecting the original use made of the datasets; for further information, see scope and content.

All data was double punched and validated using bespoke programs for range checks and similar checks. Results were checked against external sources, for example the census or census-derived estimates. Data imputation was undertaken where appropriate.

Overall responsibility for the design, conduct and analysis of the EHCS remained with the parent Department. The organisation of the surveys was usually undertaken by external contractors, who were employed to obtain and computerise all the survey data and manage some parts of the survey administration. For further details of data capture, see the sub-series catalogues for the 1991 and 1996 surveys.

Details of the content and transformation validation checks performed by NDAD on the EHCS datasets are contained in the catalogues of individual datasets: see Links to subseries catalogues.

Subseries catalogues provide more detailed information about individual subseries, and are currently available for the following subseries: